Truth
by Crimson1
Summary: Haven't seen too many of these, but I know it's been done. This fic is about Laguna telling Squall the truth...


TRUTH  
  
Squall stood outside the door to the president's office, feeling uncertain and misplaced. It seemed so strange that the president of Esthar would want to see him. Laguna had already thanked and congradulated the team on their triumph with the sorceress. What more could he have to say...?  
  
Squall shrugged, figuring he might as well find out. He knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a reply. "President Loire?" he asked, peeking his head inside. "I recieved a message saying you wanted to see me."  
  
Laguna was seated behind a large desk. His wild hair, free from being tied back, brushed against his shoulders, and he smiled as Squall entered fully. "Squall! I'm so glad you came," he exclaimed, sounding perhaps a tad too excited. "Oh, and don't worry about all that title junk. Just call me Laguna."  
  
"Whatever." Squall dismissed, not caring much about the man's strange enthusiasm. "Why exactly did you send for me?"  
  
"Well..." Laguna began, motioning for Squall to sit down. "There's something...I need to tell you."  
  
_'Why's he so antsy?'_ Squall thought, taking a seat. _'What's this all about?'_  
  
Laguna sat silent for a moment, thinking over what he should say. When he finally spoke, it was hesitant and strained--very unlike the exuberant man. "Squall...what I have to tell you...I just need you to listen, okay?"  
  
Squall nodded questioningly.  
  
"Okay." Laguna sighed. "Here goes. You know that after everything at Centra, I was nursed back to health by a woman named Raine, right? The woman who raised Ellone?"  
  
Squall nodded again. He had seen all that himself.  
  
"Well, I stayed there with Raine even after I recovered, trying to repay the debt I owed to her and the town as best I could. I'd slay monsters, watch after Ellone, that sorta stuff."  
  
Again, Squall nodded. He knew all this.  
  
"Time passed, and I began to realize how much I'd changed because of Raine. Elle, too. She's always meant so much to me. It's just that...when it came to Raine...I found myself thinking about her all the time. I was... falling in love with her."  
  
_'I figured that.' _Squall thought. _'But what does all this have to do with me?'  
_  
"I had a ring made for her, just like mine." Laguna continued, holding up the hand that still held that simple silver band. "One night, I finally got up enough courage to ask her to marry me."  
  
"You and Raine got married?" Squall asked. That was something he had never been sure of.  
  
"Actually, I almost chickened out, but when I finally did ask her, she said yes. It wasn't anything extravagant. Simple, a few good friends, the love of my life...it was perfect." A shadow crossed Laguna's face as he dwelled on all that. It was obvious that he still had trouble remembering Raine without feeling the pain of her loss. "Anyway," he went on. "Life was wonderful for a while. Raine, Elle, and me, one big, happy family. Wonderful...until the day the Esthar soldiers came and took Ellone away."  
  
That part Squall also knew. After all, that was the reason Laguna had gone on so many travels.  
  
"I'll never fogive myself for not being able to save her. I should have been there to stop them, but I had been out on patrol. I failed her..."  
  
"Don't think of it like that." Squall interrupted, narrowing his storm-cloud gaze. "I know she doesn't. How much would it have helped if you had been there, anyway? You might have gotten yourself killed. Besides, you did save her in the end."  
  
Laguna smiled at Squall's mild uncouragement. "I suppose you're right. But even so, far too much was sacrificed rescuing her because I wasn't there to save her the first time."  
  
"You mean Raine." Squall stated knowingly.  
  
Laguna nodded. "I went off to find Ellone, writing for Timber Maniacs to get by. I even starred in a movie once! Kiros and Ward were with me through everything, and after a lot of searching, we found Ellone in Esthar. I ended up staying to help the people of Esthar with Adel and all that, but I sent Ellone home to Raine. I hadn't meant to stay away for very long...but it ended up being the biggest mistake of my life to stay at all. It's not that I regret what I've accomplished here, but if I had only gone home sooner..." He paused, tears filling his soft, saddened eyes. "You see...what I didn't know, was that Raine...was pregant."  
  
"Yes," Squall whispered. "Sis mentioned something about that once. You didn't know?"  
  
Laguna solemly shook his head. "No. She wanted to surprise me. At least that's what Elle said when she told me about all of it up in space. That was the first I'd heard of it. Apparently, there were...complications. Raine died giving birth, and because I wasn't there, both Ellone and the baby were sent to an orphanage." Laguna paused, staring deep into Squall's eyes. "The orphanage run by Cid and Edea Kramer."  
  
Squall froze. He had known all that on some level, of course, but there seemed something hidden in what Laguna was telling him. Some great secret he was afraid to find out.  
  
"I found out about Raine's death about a week later, but I couldn't figure out where Ellone had been taken. I did find out eventually, but that was after she had been taken aboard that ship of Edea's, and I never could get in touch with her. It was a miracle when I found her again. Everything just happened so fast, and I consumed myself in running Esthar, becoming the president. I missed Raine and Elle so much, all I could do was keep myself as busy as possible."  
  
As Laguna spoke, Squall couldn't help the feeling of something beginning to gnaw at the back of his mind. But all this just couldn't be what it seemed to be. It couldn't be.  
  
"Anyway," Laguna continued. "As I said, Ellone told me everything when we were out in space. That I had...a son. That he had grown up to become a wonderful young man. A bit of loner, with trouble expressing his feelings, but a good person at heart."  
  
Squall noticed a tear run down Laguna's cheek as he finished what he had meant to say all along.  
  
"She said he had my smile...but I think you look very much like your mother, Squall."  
  
Once again, Squall froze, taken completely by surprise, despite the better judgment warning him that this was exactly what Laguna was trying to tell him. "Wh-What...?" he whispered in disbelief. "My...mother...?" This was too much. He couldn't take this. Squall suddenly sprang from his chair, knocking it to the floor. "No! This can't be. You...you're not..."  
  
"Yes, Squall." Laguna said calmly. "I'm your father."  
  
Squall stood stunned, shaking his head, refusing to believe any of it.

Laguna merely got up from his chair, and slowly came around the desk to stand next to him. "I know this must be hard for you, but I felt you deserved to know the truth." he spoke soothingly, placing a hand gently on Squall's shoulder.

But Squall brushed it away. "Don't...touch me." he growled.  
  
Regretably, Laguna allowed his hand to fall away. "I understand if you're angry. But you have to understand that I didn't know. Squall, I'm sorry I..."  
  
"Sorry!?" Squall snapped. "You're sorry?! 'By the way, Squall, I'm your father, sorry I didn't know you existed!?' I don't think so!" Squall turned, storming his way towards the door.  
  
"No, please!" Laguna cried, tears choking back his words. "Don't go...please."  
  
Squall paused with his hand on the doorknob. "Why not? There's nothing for me here." he replied coldly.  
  
"I know I have no right to expect anything from you, but I'm only asking for a chance. I can't make up for missing the last 17 years, Squall, please don't make me miss the next 17."  
  
Squall's grip tightened on the doorknob. "For a long time...I was all alone. It's not that there weren't always people around who cared about me, I just couldn't see it. I didn't want it." He spoke softly, with his head bowed, not noticing that Laguna was slowly walking up behind him. "I'd like to think I've changed somewhat." Squall continued. "I have good friends, the love of _my_ life, and now what? Some father out of the blue?"  
  
Feeling a little braver than before, Laguna reached up to place a hand once again on Squall's shoulder, and this time he wasn't brushed away. "Not exactly what you hoped for, huh? But I am your father, Squall. I...love you, and I couldn't be more proud of who you are."  
  
Squall released his grip on the doorknob, turning at last to face Laguna head on. "You...you do? You are?"  
  
"More than anything."

Braver still, Laguna dared to pull Squall closer, and was more than surprised to feel Squall's arms wrapping tightly around him in an embrace he had only dreamed he would ever get to feel.

After awhile, Squall carefully pulled away, looking up into his father's damp eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry for reacting the way I did."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Laguna smiled. "How about the two of us go grab a cup of coffee or something, and you can fill me in on the last 17 years?"  
  
Squall smiled warmly back at him. "I'd like that."

owari


End file.
